She calls them her squigglies. And even the multicolored headband has a reason behind it.

"That's actually a funny story," Kitchett said. "I forgot my original headband that I normally wear, and this was in my friend's car. I wore it, and we won that game, so I was, Oh, it's lucky.'"

For now, the Gladiators need some luck. Glenelg head coach Ginger Kincaid noted that the team is still adjusting with its 3-2 start to the season.

"We graduated out two all-Americans last year that we're trying to fill the holes for," Kincaid said. "They were four-year players. So we're trying to find our stride."

Kristy Black, The Gazette's 2008 Player of the Year, is now playing at Maryland. Alayna Markwordt is on the squad at Ohio State. In an odd side-note, the Terps travel to Ohio State on April 5.

Back in Howard County, Kitchett has become the only four-year starter left for Glenelg after scoring 60 points last year.

"There's a lot on my shoulders, since I've been playing varsity since my freshman year," Kitchett said.

Glenelg also has the advantage of Katie Beaver returning to goalie duties. She made 17 saves against Centennial (3-2), which kept threatening to take over the game. Kincaid said that the team is still getting stronger.

"We tried a lot of different combinations today," Kincaid said. "It got us in trouble for a little while, then we had to slip back in and figure out what we needed to do."

Kayleigh Hinkle scored three goals and an assist, while both Ellie Axenfield and Katie Grogan had two goals and an assist for the winners. Taylor Salandra added two goals. Katie Chase chipped in a goal and an assist, while Juliet Ayers dished in the final goal of the game.

Both Laurriann Parker and Skylar Marcoux had an assist each.

"I think today we showed tremendous growth on defense and all over the field," Kitchett said. "We just need our players that didn't play last year to step up. We're doing that now and everything is starting to mesh together."